Airship



T.E. WADE.

j Patented May 20, 1919.

2 SHEETS--SHEET -T. E. WADE.

AmsHIP. APPLICATION FILED IUIIE 25. ISH.

Pand May A20, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 /NVEN TUR TE. wAaE To all whon't 'z'z may concern:

f srxrns fonai'lion TnoMAsErwADE/or IBUR'LINGAME, CALIFORNIA.

nmsHIr. f

Beit kno-wn that I, THOMAS E WADE, a

citizenv of the United States, residingjat,

Burlingame, in the county of San Mateo and Statel of California, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Airships, of whichy ythefollowing is a specification.

The present invention relates to improve-l ments in air ships, theobject of the invention being to provide an air ship which will havegreat stability, and which cannot be easily turned about itslongitudinal axis, but which whenso turned, will still be capable ofdirected flight. l

I have herein shown my improved air ship in the form of a hydro-plane,but it is to be understood that my invention isv not limited thereto.

In theV accompanying drawing, Figurel is a side View of the air ship;Figs. 2 and 3 are end views thereof.

Referring vto the drawing, 1 indicates an engine ,house l having thereinan,V internal combustion engine 2; a radiator 3 for the engine extendsin front of, and is rigidly secured to, the engine house. From theradiator extend forwardly a plurality,here shown as four, oflongitudinal bars 4, spaced from each other, and from the engine houselikewise extend rearwardly spaced longitudinal bars 5. These bars 4 aslikewise the bars 5 are connected with each other by transverse andvertical struts 6 and tied to each other by'oblique tie-wires 7, to formhollow frames, 8, 9, which, with the engine house and radiator,constitute, as it were, the backbone of the machine. Centrally Withinthe front frame 8 and supported at suitable intervals, with bearings 10therein, is a driv' ing shaft 11, driven bythe engine, and carrying atthe forward end of the frame, a propeller12. In therear framel 9 iscontained a long, narrow gasolene-chamber 13,

in the form of a tube.

by tie-wires 17 connected thereto and to the front portions of frontpontoons 18. Pivotally secured to the fron-t edges ofthesus-vspecification-of Lettersratent, .Patented May 20,1919. Apini'iatoiiaiaae25,1`9i7. lseiaifivoylcgras. i 'Il i taining planesare the Arear edgesof Ytransversely extending elevators19.

vr,Frein'the 4bars 4 and 5 of thefr'ont'arid 'rear frames extendobliquely outward, vin

upward and 'downward directions making angles of 45 with the horizon,planes 2O Vwhich gradually increase in width from front to rear, andwhich I term stability planes since they greatly increase the stability.of the air ship. vThese planes are made of any suitable material, andare secured at their outer edges to bars 21, which bars are connected atintervals with the bars 4 and 5 by transversely extending struts 22,which are tied together by oblique tie-wires 23. The front pontoons 18are spaced'from, and

bars 24, and are secured to the front frame` 8 by front and rear obliquesupports 26, 27, and are also secured to the lower bars 2l by front andrear supports 28 and 29. The rear portions of said stability planesextend rearwardly beyond the rear frame 9, their inner edges having ageneral direction obliquely outward and being secured to bars 31, theirouter edges extending parallel with the back bone of the machine andbeing secured to 4bars 32. The terminal portions of the bars 31 and32,.where they join each other, carry loops 33, through which extendoblique straining wires 23, .which are also connected respectively tothe ends of the rearmost bars 22. Rear pontoon-s 35 are secured alongthe greater part of their length to the lower outer bars 32 oftheextensions of the stability planes. Turnbuckles are provided fortightening or slackening the straining wires 23.

Between the bars 31 at the inner edges of the rear portion of thestability planes is interposed a cabin 38 for passengers. At the sidesof said cabin are supported balancing planes 39. Between the rearpor-tions of the oblique bars 32 at the inner edges of the upper andlower rear portions of the v stability planes, on each side of themachine,

is secured the front endof a rudder plane 40, so that there are two ofsaid rudders, one on each side of the machine.

The elevators and rudders are controlled in the usual manner by cablesrunning to the engine room or to the cabin, as may be desired. Agyroscope 41 for adding to the stability of the air ship may be placedin Vtopics of this patent may be obtained tor I have found by actualtrial that an air ship of the above form possesses great sta-` bility,and it Will be observed that, even though the air ship should turn aboutits longitudinal axis to any extent, it will still koer a large area ofresistance to the air, and will drop slowly to the ground. Y

I claim: 1

In an air ship, a longitudinal frame, susstaining planes supported bythe` front portion of said frame, a'nd stability planes eX- tendingtransversely'from said longitudinal frame and increasing in Widththerefrom to rear, the rear portions of the stability planes Vhavinginner edges diverging from each other and ya passenger cabin containedbetween said inner edges.

THoMAsE. WADE.

ve cents each, by auldrersssing` the Commissionerof Patents, Washington,D. C."

